The fall season has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and even the Sun is getting into the Halloween spirit
as evidenced by this ‘jack-o’-lantern’ image captured recently by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. But
before you go out trick-or-treating, we’ve got a number of stories to captivate your curiousity. We highlight
the 10th anniversary of SpaceShipOne rocketing into space and claiming the Ansari X Prize. We give you
the scoop on Spaceport America in New Mexico from where Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo may soon be
launching commercial passengers on trips to space. We tell you all about the Deep Space Network here on
Earth that allows us to communicate with the many spacecraft exploring the solar system. And we’ve got
an interview with Charley Kohlhase who was instrumental in the development of many of those planetary
probes. We’ve also loaded this issue of RocketSTEM with articles about Orion’s upcoming launch, the Student
Spaceflight Experiments Program, the arrival of two new orbiters at Mars, Rosetta’s succesful journey to a comet,
decisions on NASA’s commercial crew program, a beginner’s guide to planetary photography, and more.
Once again we are pleased to announce that a limited number of high-quality printed copies are
available for this issue. If interested, please visit www.rocketstem.org/purchase. While there, also consider
signing up to be notified should we begin offering an annual print subscription for the 2015 calendar year.
Since founding RocketSTEM two years ago, we’ve stated that each issue of the magazine will be FREE
to read online. As a non-profit organization that is a mission we intend to never stray from, however, that
is not to say that funding such a publication is not costly. If you would like to help us continue our mission,
please consider making a donation to RocketSTEM via our website at www.rocketstem.org/donate.
We hope you enjoy this magazine, and will continue to be inquisitive about the universe we all inhabit.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO